I've just noticed that after my upstairs tub was used, the ceiling in my living room directly below was wet. The caulking is fine I'm suspecting it's the bathtub overflow because I'm told the tub was filled to the top and I think water got in there.

I took off the cover and it looks like the previous owner just tried filling the hole with caulking since there were globs in there.

Is it worth the hassle of fixing it properly which would probably include making a hole in the ceiling to gain access, or would you just seal off the overflow and make sure whoever uses that tub never fills it that high?

Well, if you can make sure no one uses it again that is a solution. However, are you sure it's the overflow? It could be another underlying problem and it might be worth checking it out and turning a future problem in a solution.

I'd be willing to let it go. As long as the tub isn't filled to a point where if someone gets in it after filling it, the level would overflow onto the floor.

It is the guest bathroom and it's been used a total of once in the past 2 years. I'm leaning this way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cork-Guy

Well, if you can make sure no one uses it again that is a solution. However, are you sure it's the overflow? It could be another underlying problem and it might be worth checking it out and turning a future problem in a solution.

The reason I think it's the overflow is because I couldn't recreate the leak. The leak happened last week. Yesterday I ran the water for about 10 mins and wet stains on the ceiling. I then filled the tub half way and let it sit for a while, then drained it. No wet stains on the ceiling.
I then removed the valve cover and ran the shower for 10 minutes to see if any water was leaking behind the wall. No leak.

Look at the overflow gasket in between the tub and overflow.
Another possibility is the screws on the overflow plate are loose.

Looks like this is it.
There appears to be a small gap between the overflow pipe and the actual hole in the tub that's not caulked so rising water would seep through that crack before reaching the level of the overflow pipe. There's a gasket for this? I was thinking of just caulking that gap.

I've replaced that beveled washer behind the overflow, and plumbers here in Winnipeg do it from inside the bathtub. You simply take the crossbar out and push the overflow drain pipe far enough back to slip the old gasket off and slip a new one on.

I'd like to hear what Redwood says on this, but I know for a fact that I've replaced that gasket without causing another leak at the joint where the tee where the overflow and drain pipes meet.

The gasket is a beveled type, very similar to the one that goes between a toilet flush valve and the toilet tank, only a little smaller.